strayed,
Take heart of grace. Thy steps retrace. Poor wand’ring one!
Poor wand’ring one! If such poor love as mine
Can help thee find. True peace of mind. Why take it,
It is thine.
‘Peter,’ Gloria’s voice suddenly punctuated the melody. ‘You kissed me when you had a cold.’
Startled by the sound of Gloria’s voice, my breath disappeared. I was left searching for words while the singing went on, louder, harder, the voice getting stronger, now joined by another.
I couldn’t speak.
Take heart, no danger lowers; Take any heart but ours!
Take heart, fair days will shine; Take any heart, take mine!
Take heart, no danger lowers; Take any heart but ours!
Take heart, fair days will shine; Take any heart, take mine!
Ah-h-h!
A voice soared into a cadenza.
‘It’s ruined my stomach, Peter,’ Gloria added.
An aria accompanied my thoughts; my mind went into a spin, until I realized what she was talking about: almost two years earlier, when she was appearing in a play in London, I’d had a
cold, so she took a whole tube of vitamin C tablets, the kind that fizz up in water, because she was worried about catching the cold and losing her voice. She never developed the symptoms but she
did feel sick the following day.
I turned the light back on and returned the lamp to the table. The room was bright again. The shadows disappeared. The singing suddenly stopped.
‘Gloria, if you think that your stomach is ruined, it would be sensible if you went somewhere to make it better again. Please let me take you to a hospital, I’ll stay there with you
if you want.’
‘Do you think I’m fighting for my life, Peter?’
‘Yes,’ I answered. ‘I do.’
‘Is that why you called in the doctor, Peter?’
‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘Of course it was. You won’t get better if you won’t let anyone help you to get better. You need to be looked after properly by someone who knows
what they’re doing. You see, Gloria, I just don’t know what to do.’
‘You’re doing fine, honey,’ she said.
I sat thinking, alone in the upstairs flat. I thought about Gloria taking the vitamin C and remembered her being sick the next day. She was only sick for a day! Vitamin C
couldn’t cause cancer, could it? I couldn’t be to blame, could I? All because I kissed her when I had a cold.
THREE
‘Enjoy your stay in England,’ Mr Longdon said and smiled so wide that his lips almost touched his ears. He gave Gloria a cautious little squeeze on the elbow and
quietly mouthed the words, ‘Thank you for banking with us.’
‘I’ll be back soon.’ Delighted, Gloria patted him on the jacket and gave him a winning smile.
That morning she’d been broke, waiting for money to come from America, and now she’d been issued with a cheque book, a cash card, an overdraft facility and a handful of twenty-pound
notes.
I’d suggested she go to the bank in Camden Town because it was near to where we were living and also because I’d had dealings with the manager, Mr Longdon, who’d been handling
my account for the past few years. He was known to be kind to actors so I was sure he’d be generous and impressed if I took in a film star. He’d be certain to give Gloria an overdraft
and maybe, I thought, I might get one too. However, he looked at me and frowned when I joined them at the door to his office.
‘And what can I do for you?’ he asked.
‘Oh, we’re together,’ Gloria announced.
‘But how did you get to know him?’
‘Oooh,’ she replied. ‘I guess I just struck lucky.’
Mr Longdon looked shaken, as if he’d been robbed, when we waved him goodbye and walked out into Camden High Street to catch the bus back up to Adelaide Road.
Although we were living at the same address near Regent’s Park, it wasn’t until a few weeks after she’d arrived from America that we first met. I was living in a small room at
the top of a large Edwardian house and Gloria, while she was over in England working on a play, was
Take heart of grace. Thy steps retrace. Poor wand’ring one!
Poor wand’ring one! If such poor love as mine
Can help thee find. True peace of mind. Why take it,
It is thine.
‘Peter,’ Gloria’s voice suddenly punctuated the melody. ‘You kissed me when you had a cold.’
Startled by the sound of Gloria’s voice, my breath disappeared. I was left searching for words while the singing went on, louder, harder, the voice getting stronger, now joined by another.
I couldn’t speak.
Take heart, no danger lowers; Take any heart but ours!
Take heart, fair days will shine; Take any heart, take mine!
Take heart, no danger lowers; Take any heart but ours!
Take heart, fair days will shine; Take any heart, take mine!
Ah-h-h!
A voice soared into a cadenza.
‘It’s ruined my stomach, Peter,’ Gloria added.
An aria accompanied my thoughts; my mind went into a spin, until I realized what she was talking about: almost two years earlier, when she was appearing in a play in London, I’d had a
cold, so she took a whole tube of vitamin C tablets, the kind that fizz up in water, because she was worried about catching the cold and losing her voice. She never developed the symptoms but she
did feel sick the following day.
I turned the light back on and returned the lamp to the table. The room was bright again. The shadows disappeared. The singing suddenly stopped.
‘Gloria, if you think that your stomach is ruined, it would be sensible if you went somewhere to make it better again. Please let me take you to a hospital, I’ll stay there with you
if you want.’
‘Do you think I’m fighting for my life, Peter?’
‘Yes,’ I answered. ‘I do.’
‘Is that why you called in the doctor, Peter?’
‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘Of course it was. You won’t get better if you won’t let anyone help you to get better. You need to be looked after properly by someone who knows
what they’re doing. You see, Gloria, I just don’t know what to do.’
‘You’re doing fine, honey,’ she said.
I sat thinking, alone in the upstairs flat. I thought about Gloria taking the vitamin C and remembered her being sick the next day. She was only sick for a day! Vitamin C
couldn’t cause cancer, could it? I couldn’t be to blame, could I? All because I kissed her when I had a cold.
THREE
‘Enjoy your stay in England,’ Mr Longdon said and smiled so wide that his lips almost touched his ears. He gave Gloria a cautious little squeeze on the elbow and
quietly mouthed the words, ‘Thank you for banking with us.’
‘I’ll be back soon.’ Delighted, Gloria patted him on the jacket and gave him a winning smile.
That morning she’d been broke, waiting for money to come from America, and now she’d been issued with a cheque book, a cash card, an overdraft facility and a handful of twenty-pound
notes.
I’d suggested she go to the bank in Camden Town because it was near to where we were living and also because I’d had dealings with the manager, Mr Longdon, who’d been handling
my account for the past few years. He was known to be kind to actors so I was sure he’d be generous and impressed if I took in a film star. He’d be certain to give Gloria an overdraft
and maybe, I thought, I might get one too. However, he looked at me and frowned when I joined them at the door to his office.
‘And what can I do for you?’ he asked.
‘Oh, we’re together,’ Gloria announced.
‘But how did you get to know him?’
‘Oooh,’ she replied. ‘I guess I just struck lucky.’
Mr Longdon looked shaken, as if he’d been robbed, when we waved him goodbye and walked out into Camden High Street to catch the bus back up to Adelaide Road.
Although we were living at the same address near Regent’s Park, it wasn’t until a few weeks after she’d arrived from America that we first met. I was living in a small room at
the top of a large Edwardian house and Gloria, while she was over in England working on a play, was
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